Flight of the Stranger
by screwtape's.love
Summary: Scouts are strangers because they so rarely interact with the public. And when they do, it leaves an impact.


Eren had a spectacular talent for pissing people off.

It was because he was so passionate about everything. There didn't seem to be anything that Eren Jaeger felt wishy washy about. It was like he saw the word exclusively through lenses of black and white, or perhaps more accurately, flaming read and dark, shadowy, closed-in blackness. Things were or weren't. They were right or wrong. And at just over eleven, Eren felt that he knew the _rights_ to most anything.

Tensions were high nowadays. Sure, the food shortage had been… _solved._ But that didn't mean that everyone was eating in abundance. It didn't mean that people weren't scarred with trauma or loss. Those who still worked in the landfills were constantly exhausted. Something worse, too, had changed. Just a year ago, most of the citizens within the walls held a very security mentality; that is, that the Titans outside were just that: outside, and they would stay that way. And that the walls were a kind of ultimate, impenetrable protection.

Now, everyone had, in a dark corner of their minds, come to the realization that nothing was more untrue. For the survivors of Shiganshina and the rest of Wall Maria, the distinction was even sharper. They knew that not only _could_ the Walls fail to protect them, but expected with a near certain dread that, sometime, they would. They just didn't want to think about it.

So on a day like this, when Eren was feeling particularly cantankerous, he was a threat to his own personal well-being.

"E-Eren, I think maybe you should be quiet," Armin urged for probably the fifth time on their walk back home. He was really too tired to argue with Eren, who was remarkably bullheaded, so his only hope at the moment was that Mikasa would intervene. But she seemed lost in her own thoughts, and probably wouldn't do anything until the situation was more severe. Armin pressed his lips together and glanced quickly around him. They were definitely drawing eyes.

"Why should I?" Eren said. He wasn't yelling _yet,_ but he'd get there. And, anyways, his talking was very loud. _Too_ loud, because everyone seemed to have quieted out of shock, or a need to listen to a young refugee make a fool of himself, or both. "Everyone knows it. We're just sitting here, complicit, like pigs for the slaughter. Everyone is okay working at the landfills so they can distract themselves from reality. We should find more meaningful work!"

Alarm. _Now would be the time, Mikasa!_ Armin gritted his teeth and looked around again. The people close by were beginning to look annoyed, and Mikasa was just breathing in her scarf. "Um, I think you mean 'complacent'," Armin said. "And you know I agree with you. No need to be so loud about it!"

Eren was not defused. In fact, he looked more inflamed than before. "You're so afraid! I thought we all said we were gonna fight Titans together. And you're scared of these people?!"

Someone snorted loudly. "Keep dreamin', kid."

Eren spun around to face him and Armin jerked feebly on his arm. "What the hell do you mean by that?" Eren's fists were up, but uselessly. The man in front of them had the type of face and body that had obviously slimmed down too fast. _A fellow refuge._ His body looked tired, but his eyes glinted with meanness. Mikasa, too, was pulling on Eren hard, but a thin crowd had gathered on all sides, and it was too late to get away now.

The man crossed his wiry arms over his loosely clothed chest and smirked with unconcealed viciousness. "Anybody who fights the Titans just gets themselves killed. Don't you remember the attempt to reclaim Maria, brat?"

Armin felt his stomach revolting at the memory; his hold on Eren's arm weakened..

Eren was trembling, but the man continued. "And what about the Survey Corps? I bet that's what you're talking about. Ever wonder why their parties are so small when they travel through town? It's not just because most people are too smart to join _that faction._ It's because half of the people that join die right off the bat! And you think a little idiot like you won't be one of them?"

There were shouts coming from the crowd now. Armin was a little inflamed by the fact that they all felt the need to heckle an eleven-year-old, but more important was that they were feeding into Eren's self-righteous anger. He pulled more fiercely at his friend this time and, with Mikasa's help, actually managed to pull Eren behind them. "O-of course not, sir! He's just tired; please don't mind him!"

"We're all tired," the man answered, not very graciously. "You better hope your friend gets his head screwed on right."

Eren's splayed palm made a stunning impact on Armin's ribs as his friend pushed him aside. "You're the idiot if you're consent to sit here and wait until the Titans attack us again!"

"Eren!" Mikasa said, her voice somewhere between a cry and a morning.

The man's eyes flashed dangerously. He uncrossed his arms and balled his fist at his sides. "Watch your mouth, punk, or I'll give you a beating."

"Better than lying down and consenting to being eaten!"

A gasp echoed throughout the crowd, and then everything happened too quickly for Armin to process. He saw the dirty blur of a man move in the corner of his eye before he could step towards Eren. He heard Eren grunt, and a thud, and then Mikasa make an angry noise as she stood helpless to the side. And then he saw Eren on the ground, clutching his head. The man was standing over him, his leg pulled back for a kick.

There was mixed feedback from the crowd, with some people sounding shocked and appalled and others giving into a brutal, primal nature and cheering him on. Either way, it was enough for the attacker, who sent Eren rolling with a targeted kick to his belly.

"Get up, Eren!" cried Armin. "You have to get into the crowd!" _And hope they don't throw him right back in._

"Eren!" Mikasa always sent schoolyard bullies running with a single stony look, but this was a grown man, even if he was a weak one. She made to step in between him and Eren, who was lying on his back and heaving. The man tossed her aside without even looking. Then he sent Eren sprawling again. The crowd called out again.

"Learning your lesson, little boy?" jeered the man, leaning down to lift Eren by the frayed collar of his shirt. "Obviously your mother didn't rear you right. A kid needs a firm hand."

Eren was gasping, but the jab to his mother lit his eyes in the worst way. He flailed, but his balled fist still managed to slam weakly into the man's cheekbone.

"You little _shit_!" Eren's attacker didn't look hurt, but it had been more of an insult than anything. Eren was thrown onto the hard stone of the street. This time most of the crowd did seem a little alarmed, especially since Eren, in spite of himself, had started crying.

While this was probably just humanity peeking through, Armin was alarmed for a different reason. It took a lot to make Eren cry. Maybe it was the shot at his mother, but if it was physical pain, what did it mean? What if Eren had broken something and couldn't pay for his rations? What if he was bleeding internally? They didn't have access to a doctor anymore. And the man… "Please don't kick him again, sir!" he cried. "You'll kill him!"

The man didn't seem to have listened, but once again, time seemed to accelerate.

Different noises came from the crowd behind them. People grunting, and actual words:

"Sorry!"

"Hey!"

"Who -?"

"Outta the way!"

Then, right in front of him this time, another blur. Green and white. It moved with stunning speed. At first it was a block of flowing, earthy green, and then a bright white line traced a path of pain from the ground, through the air, and into the attacker's chin. Armin saw blood, and more white. _Teeth._

"Holy shit! What just happened!" somebody said.

"She just ran through the crowd!"

The man hand crumpled to the ground not far from Eren, but his pride got him up quickly. He spat blood once, then again, leaving spatter on his chin and at the corners of his mouth. He was definitely in pain, but not agonized.

Eren wasn't much worse off. He'd lifted himself weakly off the ground, and he was more quiet than he had been in a long time.

"Fighting in the streets is prohibited, as you well know," said the new person. She had her hands on her hips, and her chest rose and fell as evenly as if she'd just been taking a leisurely stroll. She wore a military uniform, and while she was young, the hard authority in her voice told Armin that she wasn't a new recruit.

Around her neck hung a green cape bearing the symbolic wings of the Scout Regiment.

"And assaulting little kids is even more prohibited. Do you like to dance, mister?" she said. Her face was twisted in a smirk as the man scrambled to get off the ground. "Ever heard of the hangman's jig?"

The crowd shuddered and gasped, Armin among them. "You're not the police," the man shouted, taking up a weak fighting stance again. "You have no authority."

"No, I'm not a member of the Military Police," she said nonchalantly. Her eyes closed for a moment, eyelashes resting on her tanned cheeks. "But I am a fully fledged member of the military, sworn to protect the public and the crown." She was moving slowly, but Armin noticed it, and he was sure the man did too. Instead of walking straight to Eren, she took the long way around, circling Eren's attacker waiting on its injured prey to die. "This kid's a member of the public. So's that girl over there. The one you threw? And by attacking them, you violated the Crown's laws. I'm compelled to take action."

If the man had quailed a little at the mention of the penalty for killing a child, he'd now sunken into himself. He backed away, but the crowd moved to accommodate him. As the girl settled in front of Eren, who was standing, slumped, now, she smirked. He was well within her sights. "He's obviously alive," he spat.

"Yes, and you better hope it stays that way," she said solemnly. She glanced back at Eren, and her brown ponytail flopped over her shoulder. "Do you know this man?"

"No," said Eren.

"All the better," she replied, then glanced pointedly at a tooth on the ground. "Get out of here, you piece of shit. I'll be sure to report this to my superiors. Believe me when I say you'll hear from us if anything goes wrong."

The man didn't need to be told twice. He rubbed his jaw, which was already bruising, and shot off into the crowd as quickly as he could.

"Thank you, ma'am," Armin said, but the woman's attention was diverted.

"You people get out of here!" she snapped at the bystanders, waving an arm. "Git!"

They lingered for a moment. Some left but most just shrank back into the very sides of the road. Seemingly satisfied that this was all she could force them to do, she turned back to Armin. "I'm sorry?"

"Th-thank you, ma'am," he repeated. Her eyes weren't predatory, like he might have expected from the show of dominance in the minute before, but they were alarmingly bright, almost as blue as Eren's were green.

"Don't thank me yet," she said brusquely. She turned back to Eren, who was staring at her in awe. She was his hero come to life; all she needed to do now was kill a few Titans. _Maybe she already has._ Armin's heart thumped ominously. This woman might have killed Titans, the same beastly creatures that killed thousands with ease. No wonder she wasn't intimidated in the face of an angry man. No wonder the crowd had left, intimidated, after one command. "I need to check you out. Just make sure that guy didn't break anything so you can work. Follow me, please. You too, girly."

Mikasa's eyes narrowed, but since Eren was following, so did she. Armin, though uninvited, followed suit.

She didn't take them far. Instead, she hit the end of the street and then turned onto another. It wasn't anyplace special, and he didn't see anyone else in a military uniform. She gestured at a bench, and then Armin realized with relief that she was just leading them away from the scene of the altercation.

The Scout crossed her arms. He realized that he'd never seen one sans gear and off a horse before and paused to take it in. She reminded him more of a Military Policeman than a Garrison Soldier. After all, she carried herself with a kind of confidence that most in the Garrison just didn't seem to have. It was almost like she had a physical sense of security and awareness. There in the street, she seemed invulnerable.

Sans horse, sans gear, Armin could see how Eren could idolize someone like this.

"Look," she said. "I can take you two for an actual medical workup, but it'll be a lot more hassle. " She shifted where she was standing and then gestured again at the bench; all three of them sat. "Not to mention that they'll make all four of us file a report, with you -" she nodded her head at Armin "- as a key witness. Unless you're really hurt, it's not worth it."

Mikasa spoke up right away. "Are you qualified? Eren got kicked really hard. He could be hurt."

She didn't roll her eyes or anything. Actually, she met Mikasa's and seemed to be taking her quite seriously. "If you're talking papers and licenses, no. I'm not a nurse. But I've been injured a lot myself, and I know what it looks like. I think I could be a good guesser." She cleared her throat. "I, ah, suggested it because, while I only saw part of the conversation, I get the feeling that your testimony could cause you problems. Causing a disruption in public affairs, and all that."

"We're kids," Eren said, looking a little surprised.

Armin frowned. "And refugees. We don't really have equal protections."

Eren scowled. "That's -"

"- bonkers," the soldier cut in smoothly. "What do you think?" The question was directed at Mikasa. _How intuitive._

"Fine," the Oriental girl answered finally.

The smile was back. "Good. First things first. You must be Eren." Eren nodded. He was still quiet, but he had that excited look on his face. "Good. Eren, take off your shirt for me or lift it. I know it's still a little cool out but I'm worried about your ribs."

No sooner had she said so than Eren shucked his shirt off. Parts of his torso were bruising, but most of it was around his lower ribcage. She poked around asked him about pain and flexibility and a few other things. "Did you spit up any blood?"

Eren's mouth looked clean, but it was still a relief when he answered, "No."

"Good." She tossed him his shirt in a ball. "Put that back on. Now, how about you?" Her attention was on Mikasa now. "What's your name?"

"Mikasa Ackerman," she answered shortly, but not impolitely. Her face was a little flushed.

"I'll not ask you to undress in public," the soldier said with a laugh, "since you're such a pretty young lady." Mikasa's expression didn't change, but she poked her nose beneath the red scarf again. "I saw him throw you. Did you land funny?"

"I landed hard on my ankle but it doesn't hurt." Maybe because she was a little rattled, Mikasa uncharacteristically jiggled the foot at fault. The Scout kneeled down on her knees. They were at eye level now. She took the proffered foot in hand and turned the ankle a little.

"You're right," she decided. "You should be fine." The bright blue eyes turned on Armin now. "And who are you, young man?"

Somehow, he smiled. "Armin, ma'am. Their friend."

"And ma'am was my mother," the Scout said with a smirk. "I'm Margot. It's good to meet you all." She winked at Armin. "Take care of those troublesome friends of yours."

Armin's face flushed. So did Eren's, but he didn't try to deny his 'troublesome' nature. "Of course, Miss Margot."

She dug around in a little bag at her side and pulled out three red hard candies in clear wrappers. "Here you go. Go ahead, take one. That's it." Then, as soon as the candies were gone, she stood back up and smiled down on them. She looked too benevolent to have kicked somebody in the mouth a few minutes ago. "I've gotta run," she said. "You kids stay safe."

They watched her walk away in silence. To break it, Armin unwrapped his candy slowly. The crinkling broke through, and then, so did the gossip.

"She's a Scout."

"Wow."

"Wow's right. SHe's brave or stupid."

"Both."

"I've heard they're the real elities."

"I heard they were staying in town so they can use our gate to head out for an expedition."

"Geez. I hope they don't bring a bloody mess back into Trost."

The candy was cinnamon flavored. He hadn't had sweets since Shiganshina. Still, he had to focus to bring out the sweetness; the voices reminded him that, if the rumors were true, the Scout who'd just saved Eren and given them candy could be dead two days from now.

 _No._ He felt sure, somehow, that Margot had done it all before.

And then, waking him as if from a daze, Eren stood up. "Margot!" he shouted.

Margot turned, staring at him through her bright eyes. She looked like she hadn't a care in the world. Not one she was willing to show. "Eren?" she called back.

"Someday I'm gonna join the Scout Regiment!" he said. The determination in his voice was back. Armin knew that the kindness of this stranger had put a fire back in his belly. Suddenly Eren's dream of being a Scout was much more corporeal. He was bursting to say something. "Someday soon. I'll train hard, and I'll wipe out every last one of the Titans!"

Mikasa's hand was on Eren's arm, and Margot was quiet for a moment. Then, the corners of her mouth turned up. "I look forward to seeing you on the field, kid." That was all she said before she turned again. The voices followed her retreating back.

"Yeah, if she's still alive by then."

"Really."

"That poor kid."

Eren sat back on the bench. His fists were tight on the sides of his legs. The candy wrappers crinkled. He glared at a spot on the ground. "You will."

 _She will,_ Armin agreed.

Silence.

And then, even Mikasa spoke. "She can take care of herself," she said, pink lips peering over the material of the scarf.

That made it certain, as if the universe itself had given word. Eren talked about training the whole way home. "We can start in a few months," he said. "Do you think they teach people to kick like that?"

It seemed funnier in his memory. Armin bit down on the candy. "Probably not."

* * *

 _Hope you guys enjoyed it! It was just something I wrote for fun earlier today and I decided to go ahead and post it. It may be a one-shot, but I'm not sure. If it is, I'll go back and mark it as complete; if not, expect new chapters. It could go either way, but let me know what you think. (:_


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